Senate minority leader

Says legislators 'had a very good day yesterday'

(Newser) -
Good news, if you're the US economy: Mitch McConnell says a debt ceiling deal is "very close," reports Politico. Speaking on CNN's State of the Nation this morning, the Senate minority leader said lawmakers yesterday made "dramatic progress" on a two-step, $3 trillion agreement that...
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Many are calling it a sell-out; here's why it's not

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Knee-jerk reactions to Mitch McConnell's surprise debt ceiling proposal weren't good: Newt Gingrich, for example, called it "an irresponsible surrender to big government." But upon further consideration, many are coming out of the woodwork to explain why this is actually a grand plan for the Grand...
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Minority leader bows to pressure from DeMint, Tea Partiers

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has apparently decided that he'd rather battle Democrats than members of his own party. The Republican, under pressure from conservative senators led by South Carolina Tea Party backer Jim DeMint, has reversed his position and announced his support for a ban on earmarks, reports the...
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Critics accuse GOP of 'blinking'

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Twenty-seven Obama nominees were confirmed last night following a tense exchange between the president and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Critics accused McConnell and the GOP of "blinking" in the face of the president's threat to make recess appointments over the President's Day break. Republicans denied the claim, saying...
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Liberal Democrats join rising tide against Fed chair's reappointment

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Two Democratic senators said today they won't vote to reappoint Ben Bernanke as Fed chairman. Barbara Boxer and Russell Feingold added to the groundswell of opposition imperiling a second 4-year term for Bernanke, which requires 60 votes. “Our next Federal Reserve chairman must represent a clean break from the...
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